Dome

Photos of the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

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Have been pretty busy these few days, plus the weather is super gloomy and I can't stand the cold so I've stopped taking photos for a while. Will post up photos whenever I can. :D

Dry

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Stains and Shadows...

Another submission for the Color Carnival at:

http://colorcarnivalmeme.blogspot.com/

Do click on the image to enlarge. Sorry about the noise and blur though...

Seasons of life

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven...

Just as nature must take its course,

Through splendid springs and winter frost,

Our lives too change with time,

With different rhythms, different rhymes.

Times for new things and looking forward to the future,

Times for hard work and for us to mature,

Times to reap seeds planted in the past,

Times for hardships, and closure at last.

We may not always understand the things we go through,

Sometimes sadness and anger throw things askew,

But keep your chin up, for all hope can bring,

For without winters, there cannot be spring.

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven...

Lucca

After Rome, we paid a visit to Lucca. Here are some photos on the evening we arrived.

These first 3 photos were taken on the famous walls of Lucca. The city's defenses that were never used. These walls are so thick that people can cycle, take walks, enjoy themselves on them.

These two gentlemen having a game of chess.

I added an orange gradient to this photo for fun.

Inside the Pantheon

Here are the photos of the Pantheon's interior as promised. I'm sorry these aren't great. Most of the photos I took are so blurred. They just don't do it any justice. But it was lovely being there. We got lucky in a sense because just as we entered the church, there came on the announcements for the public to leave as there was going to be a Mass. We didn't leave with the crowd but attended Mass instead. And after the Mass, we had enough time to admire the place before the guards let the crowd in again.

As the Black Ink Slowly Fades...

For David...

Listening to the smells of a rainy day, looking into the dead chill of twilight, holding on to two crumpled movie passes of seasons past. The ink was barely visible...and he could do nothing to stop it from disappearing altogether.

As the black ink slowly fades...

Will the memories too fail?

Like old bricks once so strong,

Fall away from the house that was meant to last forever.

As the black ink slowly fades...

Will your love for me too die?

Like the fires out in winter,

With nothing enough to feed it. To nurture it.

Will you not let me burn for you?

The one who left you too soon,

Because of this I am alone,

As I desperately try to hold onto,

The shattered pieces of what was once us,

Plunged into the river of time,

Alas I cannot outdo the river,

And the memories escape my grasps...

As the black ink slowly fades...

Will you try to strip away?

The flesh from my bones,

Where you were once me, and I was once you.

As the black ink slowly fades...

Will you not recall?

The boy who would climb hills with you.

The man who would climb mountains for you.

As the black ink slowly fades...

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Photo taken in Paris last December

Pan the on...

Alright it's not funny. It's the Pantheon. I couldn't think of a better title for this post. So there >.<

I recently found out that sleeping (or being) too near your mobile phone can cause brain damage. I've been sleeping with mine under my pillow for a few years now. That probably explains my forgetfullness, my inability to think clearly and quickly, and my declining intelligence. The thing is, I use my mobile as an alarm clock [this probably means I'm going to have to buy myself a real one soon]. So in the meantime, I have moved its position from under my pillow to the floor under my bed. Since some sources say that the radiation emited is about the size of a basketball...the floor should be safe enough right? I'm not convinced, but it will have to do for now.

Back to the Pantheon. Here are some pictures of it and the square in front of it. For the insides, watch out for my next post.

This Pantheon and the crowds of tourists. One thing I dislike about going to tourist destinations is that it's impossible to get a photo without the...uh...tourists. I know I'm one myself but...

View of the Pantheon from the back.

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The next few shots are from the square in front of the Pantheon. The fountain there is lovely (although the viscious looking ducks creep me out a little) and I thought I'd get bits of it in the photo along with the Pantheon.  I wanted to put these in black and white. They really do look quite lovely. But I fell in love with this sort of muted colours look. The wanning light added to the effect.

Do click on the images to enlarge.

More of the Colosseum

Hmmm, so here I am again with more photos of the Colosseum...more of its outside ['more' not refering to the number of pics but to how much of the amphiteater can be seen in the pic] and some photos of its inside. This post has too many photos...but since I've already uploaded them...

Do click on images to enlarge.

In the evening...

[Sorry about the noise in the photo. *Glares at camera*]

I had to be a good distance away to fit the whole of it [well almost] into the photo. I can't decide whether I hate the lampost or like it, but for better or worse, there it is blocking the way >.<

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Now for some photos inside the Colosseum

I was told the remake of the wooden platform was quite recent.

I quite like this shot. I think the window frames the image pretty well.

This little treasure I found on one of the walls of the Colosseum.

And to the exit we go...

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I must say it wasn't that easy taking shots because of the really strong sunlight. I couldn't see anything on my camera screen. So it was pretty much shoot and hope for the best. I have some photos that I quite like but are partly ruined by the over-exposure. I've no idea how to fix that. Any ideas?

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For previous photos on the colosseum click here

Floundering with the Flavian Amphitheater

Urm...floundering because the Colosseum is so... well colossal...and trying to fit the gigantic structure (or at least the better parts of it) into my tiny camera frame proved to be no easy task. I did take some shots of it from a distance but I'll be posting up those photos later. For now, I'll just be posting up pics of its parts. I hope you like them.

I particularly like this shot... a tiny fragile flower, next to the colosseum. A great many opposites.

Click image to enlarge.

I found the orange rays of the sun peeking out through the arches interesting.

The moon was out early one day and I thought that was a nice addition to the otherwise spotless sky.

Red Sky

These photos were taken shortly after turning off the highway into the Eternal City of Rome. We arrived in the evening, and the sky was afire with beauty. I took the shots from the back seat of my Dad's car.

Hmm, the sky is lovely but is this Rome?

...still waiting

...still waiting

now this is Rome...

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When we initially arrived, I didn't get the feeling that I was in someplace really different. The buildings were normal, the shops were normal...I guessed since I'd been in Italy for awhile I didn't get the WOW effect, and was pretty disappointed. But the disenchantment dissipated as soon as I saw the ancient buildings and architecture....I didn't realize that we had been traveling through the modern parts of Rome earlier... Head to self: "Oh so that's why I thought Rome looked so normal"

Anyway, looking through my photos, I've got loads of what every tourist with a camera has. The same shots of the same buildings, statues, artifacts... The tour guides points and says "now look at this", *snap snap snap*, "now look at that" *shoot shoot shoot*. I didn't really get an opportunity to take photos of anything besides the old run of the mill. A bad bad lly, makes a sad sad me.

Oh well.

Street Art in Rome

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Here are some of the photos from my holiday to Rome. There are so many photos, a good number of them bad [noisy and out of focus]. I'd blame my camera because a poor workman always blames his or her tools [yeah I'm an amateur, what can I say...]. I'd post more up soon...once I decide which ones I should post first....[hmmm should my decision be based on venue, quality of photos, or should I just be random?]

Hats off to this talented street artist.